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JVIemorial Sermon 



..BY. 



I^ev. JoHH W. Savers 



CHAPLifllN 



Dept, of pei^sylvar^ia, (j. ^. ■ F{. 



1899 



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'•And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray Thee, open 
his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes 
of the young man; and lie saw ; and, behold, the mountain 
was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha." 
(2 Kings, vi: 17.) 



The Psalmist has beautifully said, "God is our refuge 
and strength, a very present help iii trouble." The text 
refers to one of these wonderful instances of providential 
care so often repeated in the history of the Israelitish 
people, and so often experienced by individuals and na- 
tions since the days of the prophets. Israel was sur- 
rounded by merciless foes determined upon her destruc- 
tion. Now, the Syiians were encamped against them 
and formed their ambuscades at various places, expecting 
to entrap and cut them off. Elisha, the prophet, divinely 
inspired, discovered their hiding-places and kept his mas- 
ter informed of their movements. 

So often had the schemes of the enemy been defeated 
that the King of Syria, exasperated and puzzled, imagined 
that a traitor in his own camp had di< his ,-ecrets. 

But one of his servants said, ll None, my lord, O, King, but 
Elisha that is in Israel telleth the King of Israel the 
words that thou speakest in thy bed-chamber." The 
prophet was at Dothan, which the Syrians, in haste, 
besieged by night, so as to cut off his retreat. But 
a greater than Elisha was there ; the Lord Jehovah had 
sent the invisible armies of the skies to occupy the 



mountain and protect His servant from all harm. When 
the morning dawned and the servant of Elisha saw the 
armed hosts of the Syrians, he said to his master, in great 
alarm, "Alas, how shall we do ?" Calm and undisturbed 
at the formidable array, Elisha prayed that the young 
man's eyes should be opened, when, behold, the mountain 
gleamed with the splendor of armed hosts of horseman 
and chariots of fire. Then was revealed to the young 
man the great truth which all the world should know — 
that all the armies of earth are powerless before the armies 
of heaven. 

The prophet prayed once more and blindness came 
upon the Syrian hosts, so that the man they came to 
destroy led them to a distant city and into the presence 
of the King and the armies of the enemies upon whom 
they came to make war. Truly, they who have their 
trust in God " abide under the shadow of the Almighty," 
and He becomes to them a refuge and a fortress. 

The Christian believes in God's protecting presence 
and through that faith his life becomes a life of obedience 
and trust. As the daylight fades and the shadows of night 
gather round him, the child of God commends himself to 
his Father's care, and within the hollow of the Almighty 
hand slumbers sweetly, peacefully and safely. As the 
darkness flees before the rosy light of breaking day, he 
offers up his prayer of thanksgiving and sings his song of 
rejoicing. With renewed faith and purpose he submits 
his strength and will to Divine guidance, and leaning 
upon the strong arm of the Lord of Hosts, fearlessly 
marches into the battle of life. 



The text contains an encouraging lesson of God's 
providence and care for His people. No truth is more 
forcibly taught upon the page of history than that of a 
Nations exaltation through righteousness and its reproach 
because of sin. Sacred and profane history alike are but 
the startling records of the rise and fall of Nations — records 
that are emphasized by the splendid ruins which strew the 
earth and which tell alike of great exaltation and still 
greater humiliation, which tell of life and growth under 
the sunshine of truth, or death and decay under the 
blasting influences of transgression. The Tigris and Eu- 
phrates, the Nile, the Mediteranean and the islands of the 
sea, the mountains and valleys and the plains of earth all 
bear witness that sin has been a vortex, into which the 
highest civilizations have been thrown and have forever 
been swallowed up. God goes before the people and the 
nation which march along the highways of righteousness 
guiding them by His pillar of fire at night and His cloud 
of protection by day, so long as they acknowledge the 
directing hand and trust the divinity that shines from the 
fire and conceals itself in the clouds. By direction of the 
Almighty, the children of Israel escaped from Egyptian 
bondage. They crossed the Red Sea between the miracu- 
lously sustained walls of water. They saw their pursuing 
enemies enter the narrow path from which their own hosts 
had just safely emerged and they saw the water close over 
chariot and riders forever, but the power that moved the 
protecting and avenging hand was to them unseen. God 
was with His people and in His own mysterious way 
directed the hidden power which was to accomplish His 



purposes. The Lord had indeed triumphed, for His people 
had not been required to strike a single blow in their own 
defense. "The hand that had placed the pillar of cloud 
between pursuer and pursued, and that had closed the 
waters over Egypt's mightiest chieftains was unseen by 
both foeman and friend. When, in the reign of the good 
Hezekiah, the Assyrians came against Israel, the destroy- 
ing angel passed over their camp at night and smote a 
hundred four score and five thousand of their bravest 
warriors. 

There are no foes harder to battle with than those 
we cannot see. There are no forces more difficult to 
contend against than those which cannot be brought 
within the limits of our sight. We cannot estimate the 
numbers of such a foe. We cannot detect his movements 
nor understand his tactics. We cannot anticipate his 
point of attack nor calculate how we may avert or coun- 
teract his blow. Against such a presence we are helpless 
and defenceless. The storm rages above us, the thunder 
terrifies us, while the play of the forked lightning seems 
searching us in every hiding-place. The muffled rumble 
of the earthquake and the trembling soil beneath our 
feet startles us out of all propriety and reason, while we 
add to our fears and to the real danger a thousand mis- 
givings that are purely imaginary. The pestilence that 
walks in darkness and invades our land bears consterna- 
tion upon its wings, and we cry out, "Whither shall we 
fly from its dreadful presence?" Alarm takes possession 
of our nature. Our very humanity seems to desert us, 
and we flv from our neighbors and from friends and 



from loved ones, hoping in onr selfishness to secure 
some health protected spot where we may be safe. Ah ! 
how in the recognized presence of the invisible we forget 
that He who keepeth Israel never slumbers or sleeps, and 
that we cannot fly from His presence even if we seek the 
uttermost parts of the earth. He means that we shall 
trust Him in the darkness as well as in the light. He 
has said, " I will not fail thee nor forsake thee." The 
Christian's faith is that which trusts the unseen power 
which lies behind all open manifestation. No matter 
what threatens he knows that God will send His pro- 
tecting angels to keep charge over him. What is his- 
tory but the recorded results of these invisible forces? 
The books that fill our libraries contain only some small 
fragments of the world's unnumbered wrecks, which have 
been saved from the vortex of that oblivion which has 
swallowed up all the rest. The chronologist computes 
his time by fragments — periods, as we call them, inter, 
vening between great historical events — measurements of 
time made up of the rise and fall of empires and repub- 
lics, interspersed with the life and death of kings and 
warriors, and stained by blood and crime. The ruins 
of past greatness, which tell the sad story of glory ai:d 
shame, for centuries have cast their gloom upon many 
of the loveliest spots of earth. We may ask what and 
where were the forces that caused all this desolation ? 
Why did not one historical period, or even one gener- 
ation, profit by the misfortunes of its predecessor ? His- 
tory points to the physical forces — the ambitions and 
passions of men — but is almost silent as to the unseen 



influences which excited the ambition and stirred the 
passions which struck the blow. Man was in the de- 
stroying wind, the earthquake and the fire, but God was 
in the small, still voice which pronounced the doom of 
disobedience and sin. • History heard the din of battle 
but failed to recognize the mysterious power which di- 
rected the issue. 

Nations come and go, they rise and fall. Like human 
life they seem born only to a short existence, to run their 
course and die. It is a serious question for the statesman 
of the present to consider, how long our government shall 
stand, what shall contribute to its permanence, or what 
causes shall lead to its overthrow. 

How few years as we compute them, has even the 
oldest nation of the day existed under its present form of 
government. Progress in its triumphant march over the 
the earth, is ever dissipating political fallacies, destroying 
effete forms, and establishing new principles. Man is 
being slowly lifted to a high plane. The divinity is stir- 
ring within him, opening his eyes and removing the 
blindness which hid from him the invisible forces which, 
under God, are at his command. With us, and with 
what we do for the future, rest largely the responsibilities 
of a free government, trusting its life and its all to the 
masses of the people, who, irrespective of condition or 
race, direct its destinies by a free and unrestricted ballot. 

From innumerable circumstances in our history we 
believe that we are highly favored of Heaven. If Israel 
was chosen as the pioneer of a higher civilization, of a 
purer morality, and as the law-giver of the world ; if 



Greece was chosen as the exemplar of esthetic culture 
and as a teacher of the arts ; if England became the 
stronghold of aggressive Christianity ; so the United 
States is destined to embrace all these and to become 
an example of still further advancement. Surely God 
is with us, and " they that be with us are more than 
they that be with them." From the time that civiliza- 
tion first planted its standard at Jamestown down to the 
present hour the mountains round about us have been 
filled with the invincible hosts of Jehovah. The spirit 
that calmed the waves and stilled the tempestuous winds 
on Galilee has hovered over our waters ; our land has 
been hallowed by the footsteps ot Him who went about 
doing good, and our homes have been sanctified by the 
sweet spirit of Bethany. 

To-day we look backward upon our history with 
wonder and with gratitude to God. We look forward 
to a destiny that will bring the kingdoms of this earth 
and the Kingdom of Heaven into closer communion. 
Our tongues break into song and our souls into thanks- 
giving as we contemplate the mercies which have been 
our lot. When dangers threatened relief was always 
near. When discouragement came to our people, the 
heavens opened in brightness above us and the bow 
of promise spanned the continent. When uncertain tv 
clouded our governmental course, the suporior intelli- 
gence of our statesmen always provided a safe solution 
of the problem. The course of empire upon this Western 
Continent has never been checked. The savage red 
man, with his merciless tomahawk and scalping knife, 



scarcely interfered with the westward flowing of the tide. 
His woodcraft and savage instincts were no match for 
the intelligence and persistent courage of the white set- 
tlers. The fierce contests over boundary lines raised 
up a hardy and valiant race destined for yeoman service 
in the future. The political disputes with the old coun- 
try, which claimed our allegiance, sharpened the wits 
of the people, gave wisdom to our magistrates, influence 
to our legislators, and developed those peculiar ideas of 
government which has made us the most advanced of 
nations. 

The War of the Revolution determined and settled 
our political status among the peoples of the earth. The 
confederacy which followed the Declaration of Independ- 
ence demonstrated the weakness of the foundation upon 
which we expected to build. The Constitution of 1789 
welded the States together into an unbroken and endur- 
ing chain of common interest. The War of 181 2 strength- 
ened our national bond, unified the people, and proved 
to the world our ability to maintain our rights. The 
War of the Rebellion abolished slavery, made our soil 
free, and forever destroyed the idea of secession as a con- 
stitutional right. The return of peace and the organiza- 
tion of the Grand Army of the Republic crystallized 
American loyalty into a gem of clearest ray and un- 
clouded beauty. Step by step we have ascended the 
heights which no other nation has reached. A mighty 
republic has grown upon the foundation of unrestricted 
and universal suffrage, refuting the fallacy that men 
trusted with a free ballot could never govern wisely and 



well. The experience of one hundred and twenty-three 
years has shown that, with as many conflicting interests 
as there are States, all may be harmonized by wise leg- 
islation and a just administration of the law. If a par- 
tisan Congress or unjust judges should decide otherwise, 
the people will rectify the impropriety peacefully at the 
ballot box. The invisible power of wholesome public 
opinion will always prove a conservative force among a 
God-fearing people. As the blood of relationship holds 
together the various branches of the family, so the rela- 
tionship of the States creates a common interest in the 
wellare of all. Yea, more than this — the mingled blood 
of American patriotism, partaken in solemn communion 
by the soil of every Commonwealth in defence of the 
whole, would cry out from the ground to heaven against 
any attempt at the life of oiir system of government. 
Surely, the graves of our fallen comrades would form 
a rampart behind which their invisible spirits would 
forever keep guard over an unsevered Union. 

To-day, in this memorial service, we remember our 
beloved dead for their part in the solution of the great 
problems of humanity. Not only did they freely offer 
themselves upon their country's altar, a sacrifice for the 
great interests of the present, but by their blood they 
became the oracle and prophet of the future. They de- 
nounced and defeated the severance of national bonds, 
pronounced the doom of rebellion, freed the bondsman 
from his chains, and predicted the coining of a national 
greatness which, if not already here, is rapidly upon the 
way. Every day should be the benediction of the mor- 



row. Every generation should store up blessings for 
the next. We bless the past for its lessons of experi- 
ence, and we revere the memories of the men who made 
the past a glorious prediction for the future. So we 
come on this Memorial Day to record our indebtedness 
to the patriot soldiers, pay our homage for their bravery, 
express our sympathy with their sufferings, and our ad- 
miration for their achievements, pledging ourselves to 
stand loyally by the institutions for which they nobly 
died. 

As we gather on this day — to us a day of sad and 
pleasant memories, a day of instructive retrospect and 
of profitable anticipation for a glorious future — we meet 
with our dead here in this quiet God's acre, there in 
National Cemeteries, or perhaps far away in lonely and 
forgotten spots, where friendly hands have never strewn 
flowers. From all these hallowed places, yea, even from 
the depths of the sea, our dead comrades keep watch 
over the nation's honor. We are here to-day, a grate- 
ful multitude, to pay such tribute as we can to the heroes 
who did so much for us. We strew flowers of beauty 
upon their grassy mounds, and speak words of love and 
kindly remembrance ; we shed tears of sorrow for the 
departed and express words of sympathy for the bereaved 
as though but yesterday they had passed out of our sight. 
We seem to-day to live over again the eventful past. We 
hear again the bugle call echoing over the hills ; we see 
the sad partings and the long farewells ; victory and de- 
feat, bereavement and death, all pass before us in review. 
Our spirits hold communion with the comrades of long 



ago. We know that in the body they will not again 
answer roll call this side of the pearly gates, but their 
influence will live until the reveille of the resurrection 
morning shall bid them rise for the great review. 

" Here rest the great and good. Here they repose 
After their generous toil. A sacred band, 
They take their sleep together, while the year 
Comes with its earliest flowers to deck their graves, 
And gathers them again, as Winter frowns. 
Theirs is no vulgar sepulchre,— green sods 
Are all their monument, and yet it tells 
A nobler history than pillared piles, 
Or the eternal pyramids. 

They need 
No statue nor inscription to reveal 
Their greatness. It is round them, and the joy 
With which their children tread the hallowed ground 
That holds their venerated bones, the peace 
That smiles on all they fought tor, and the wealth 
That clothes the land they rescued,— these, though mute, 
As feeling ever is when deepest,— these 
Are monuments more lasting than the fanes 
Reared to the kings and demigods of old. 

Let these elms 
Bend their protecting shadow o'er their graves, 
And build with their green roof the only fame, 
Where we may gather on this hallowed day, 
That rose to them in blood, and set in glory. 
Here let us meet, while our motionless lips 
Give not a sound, and all around is mute 
In the deep Sabbath of a heart too full 
For words or tears,— here let us strew the sod 
With the fresh flowers of spring, and make to them 
An offering of the plenty Nature gives, 
And they have rendered ours,— perpetually." 

We have many more graves to decorate to-day than 
one year ago. In our own State over a thousand of 
our comrades have been gathered by the grim reaper- 
's 



Death. There will be more next year, and still more 
in the years that shall follow. As these mounds mul- 
tiply, the earthly roll call shortens, and yet as the years 
roll by those who survive will still come to decorate the 
graves, and when the last comrade shall have received 
his honorable discharge the lessons of Memorial Day will 
still be remembered — they will never die. 

It has been said that the peculiar genius of this 
memorial season is that, while other holidays praise in- 
stitutions, this glorifies men, honors the private citizen 
and the seemingly obscure soldier. Walter Scott de- 
scribed Old Mortality as going through the cemeteries 
of Scotland, chiseling anew upon the tombstones the 
names that time had well-nigh obliterated. Asked to 
explain his zeal for the memory of these worthies, the 
old man replied that he wished to see the heroes of 
yesterday march forward side by side with the youth 
of to-day. That nation suffers a great calamity whose 
children and youth have separated themselves from yes- 
terday's battlefields and victories, and have forgotten to 
honor the memories of their fathers, the sages and the 
statesmen from whom they have received a priceless 
heritage. 

I thank God that loyalty to flag and country is still 
the countersign. It is related that an old emperor was 
dying. He had been a father to his people and had 
loved and cared for them as his children. The burden 
upon his heart was the destiny of his country, and what, 
when he was gone, should become of all that he had 
established for the good of his people. To give him 

14 



assurance that all would be cared for when he was no 
more, there passed in review before him the brave of- 
ficers who had led his armies, and the veterans who 
had been the heroes of many a hard-fought battle. Upon 
their banners was inscribed, "We are loyal to our em- 
peror and will be loyal to his country." "Yes," said 
the emperor, " they have been loyal and true to me, 
and I could trust my government to their care, but they 
are growing old and like me will soon be gone, and 
then who shall care for my country ?" To further as- 
sure him of his country's safety there came before his 
review an army of stalwart young men, the pride and 
flower of the land. They were the noble sons of the 
veterans who had just passed, and carried on their ban- 
ners the legend, "We follow in our father's steps, and 
will be loyal to king and country." " Yes," said the 
emperor, " I could die in peace and trust the country 
to the worthy sons of such noble sires, but alas ! they, 
too, will soon be gone, and after them what will be- 
come of the land ?" Following after the young men 
and stepping quickly to the tap of the drum, came the 
vast army of the boys of the empire, bearing upon their 
banners, " Our fathers have taught us patriotism and 
we will be loyal to our country and live and die for 
its best interests." " There," said the emperor, " I am 
content and die happy ; a country built up by such 
loyal veterans, supported by such noble sons, and who 
are to be followed by such patriotic children, can never 
be overturned by revolution and will never die." This 
lesson is for us to-day. History records your loyal and 

15 



heroic service, and many of your sons, imbued with 
your spirit, have within the past year gone forth with 
the same ardent patriotism, to die, if need be, for their 
country's honor, and their children have been march- 
ing to the music of the Union and have been taught 
to love and revere the old flag for which their errand- 
fathers fought. 

In the spring-time, when the flowers come to their 
resurrection after their long slumber ; when the birds, 
after their winter's silence, wake to their melody of song ; 
when the world is bright with renewed life, we remem- 
ber our dead, and they come forth to meet us, not only 
in precious memory as we knew them long ago, but 
they come in the developed and perfected work for which 
their death laid the foundation and of which their blood 
wrote the prediction. They come in the realization of 
the great truths for which their lives were given. They 
come in the broader and nobler patriotism which has 
resulted from their deeds. They come in the felt pres- 
ence of their spirits in the very atmosphere which sur- 
rounds us. 

This is a government founded upon intelligence, 
and can only be perpetuated by virtue. We trust the 
franchise to the evil and the good alike. We can draw 
no distinction between vice and virtue at the ballot-box. 
The responsibility of the choice of proper administrators 
is thrown upon the body politic ; it becomes an educa- 
tion in fidelity and time has proved that, in the main, 
the trust has not been misplaced. It is true that mis- 
takes are made and frauds are perpetrated, but they form 

16 



the exception to the rule. Mercenary men sometimes 
obtain positions of great trust, incompetent men are ap- 
pointed to offices which require skill that they cannot 
give, and unworthy men are often elevated ■ to posts of 
honor which they do not adorn, but these are not proofs 
of the inadequacy of the system. They but show that 
the work of evangelization is not universal, and that 
political education among the masses is incomplete. To 
the man of integrity, however ignorant, the burden is 
an incentive to higher duties and nobler aims. The 
defects are not of the system but of our want of a proper 
appreciation of its privileges. They show that we, who 
ought to be foremost in citizenship, have not done our 
whole duty. To the Christian people of this country 
the broad and humanizing advantages of republicanism 
ought to be incentives to more virtuous activity and 
stimulants to higher patriotic requirements in our pol- 
itics. They should be to the goodness and intelligence 
of the country, an earnest pledge for the redemption of 
the ballot from unholy contamination. Let absolute 
truth, and that embraces all that is righteous in gov- 
ernments and in men, be the grand ideal that this nation 
shall hold up before the world. Call it an idea, if you 
will, and then, with the characteristic earnestness of 
men who are convinced of its value, let us press it 
home to hearts and lives of the American people. Ideas 
are the forces that move the world. They are invis- 
ible armies that discomfit the material hosts of folly, 
vice and ignorance. They are the horsemen and the 
chariots of fire which gather round the prophets and 

17 



conservators of civil purity, and which send dismay into 
the ranks of the political tricksters and jugglers and 
gradually cause the unworthy and iucompeteut to hide 
themselves away from public sight. They have caused, 
revolutions and formed new governments. They have 
swayed the millions, and have made social life to leap 
forward with a single bound into higher and healthier 
conditions. This republic was the offspring of an idea, — 
the conviction that the people who were to be governed 
could best govern themselves independent of hereditary 
rulership or autocratic dictatorship. The idea that the 
combined judgment of the masses — the voice of the peo- 
ple — oppressed to the largest extent the will of God con- 
cerning us. That is our political faith to-day, but we 
also believe that we cannot reach or maintain a stand- 
ard worthy of a free people unless we elevate our ideas 
of public morality for the masses and of private virtues 
for our representatives. The State wants : 

" Men, — high-minded men, 
With powers as far above dull brutes endued 
As beasts excel cold rocks and brambles rude 
Men who their duties know 
And knowing dare maintain." 

Whatever the world may say and however infidelity 
or scepticism may determine, the civil world is indebted 
to Christianity for its wonderful progress. 

Christ, the Exampler, whilst the originator of new 
ideas for human conduct, was also the collator of many 
of the old and useful, which had been abused and mis- 
applied. For the doctrine of revenge and retaliation 
He gave us that of forgiveness of injuries. For the cure 

IS 



of dissensions and unhappy differences He gave us due 
consideration for the opinions of others. For social 
wrongs He gave us purity of life. For the peace of the 
state He gave us respect for magistrates and rulers and 
obedience to the laws. For civil progress He gave us 
trust in God and brotherly kindness in our daily inter- 
course with men. He restrained our evil tendencies by 
a reiteration of the Ten Commandments. He softened 
our natures by the Beatitudes, and enlarged our lives 
and increased our hopes by the new commandments that 
He craves us. He taught us the wondrous idea of love 
with the Divine assurance that it was the all-powerful 
principle for good — " the fulfilling of the law." How 
the cross, as the emblem of that Christianity, has been 
revered and loved throughout the civilized world. The 
Christian world ot the nineteenth century is a far better 
world than that of the Jew or Roman two thousand 
years ago. Humanity stands upon a higher platform, 
human rights are conceded by the rulers, respected by 
the people, and enforced and protected by the laws as 
never before in the history of human government. Lib- 
erty, not only in thought and action, but in self-gov- 
ernment, has given men higher conceptions of individual 
duty and has drawn their hearts nearer to each other. 
The cross has carried with it the idea of redemption 
and has given inspiration to the hope of heaven after 
the troubles and cares of this life have passed away. 
This invisible force, like the march of a victorious army, 
has passed from conquering to conqueror, and still like 
an avalanche continues to gather strength as it moves 



[U 



forward. It will soon march over the boundary line 
into the new century and with increased ranks will 
carry the whole world toward the milennial year, when 
God's kingdom shall come and His will shall be done 
upon the earth. It is an idea that has fought its way 
against darkness and prejudice, against foes both visible 
and invisible ; but it has made its citadel in the hearts 
and homes and lives of the people and it is still tri- 
umphant. 

Another of the forces which fill the atmosphere and 
the mountains about us is the idea of our nationality. 
One country, one people, one flag, is our motto. Pos- 
sibly the thought of secession or disunion has passed for- 
ever. We cannot part company without losing strength 
and influence. We can never sever our Union without 
becoming a reproach to the world. We cannot multiply 
flags without national shame and humiliation. That 
grand old banner, since the day that its first star was 
attached and all its stripes were bound together, has 
commanded respect and admiration upon all the waters 
of the globe. Resplendent and beautiful as the tints of 
the dawning morning, it has reflected the rays of the 
rising sun of freedom through all the sky, from the 
heavens above to the earth beneath. For more than a 
century it has attracted the weary toilers of the earth. 
The very thought of it, its name, its magnificent pres- 
ence, have carried to the minds of millions the idea of 
liberty — liberty of conscience, liberty of citizenship, lib- 
erty of noble manhood — the right to the labor of one's 
own hand, to the product of one's own accumulation, 



the right of the man to own himself, the right of educa- 
tion for his children, the privileges of equality with 
other men, and the right of protection against oppres- 



sion. 



In the midst of some great public excitement or 
fancied peril, we ask, •' Is the country really in danger?" 
Are these popular strikes a menace to our institutions? 
Do these vast local interests which, in their selfishness, 
rise up in threatening attitudes, mean mischief to the 
whole fabric? Will a mercenary Congress ever barter 
our rights away for ambition or lucre ? Will the Amer- 
ican people ever yield willingly to their own humiliation ? 
We look about us and ask, as did the servant of the 
prophet, "Alas! how shall we do?" But when our eyes 
shall be opened and we shall behold the horsemen and 
the chariots of fire — the great innumerable hosts of the 
skies, hidden from our natural eyes, we will be led to 
answer, " God is with us, and they that are with us are 
greater than they that be with them." We will not fear 
when we see these unnumbered detachments armed with 
the potent influences of the great ideas of which I have 
spoken. When we behold among the standards of that 
vast gathering the banner of the cross inscribed with 
Christ's new commandment and the spirits of our dead 
pointing to that as the life of our American institutions ; 
when we see our own national flag bearing aloft the 
motto, " Proclaim liberty throughout all the land and 
to the inhabitants thereof ;" when we see here the ban- 
ner of a free ballot, and there the banner of constitutional 
security, and in the front of that great array a fortress of 



the graves of those who fought and died for the liberties 
we enjoy, we need not fear for the future, for God is 
with us. 

Against all these threatening dangers there are safe- 
guards, and we must see to it that they are found and 
applied. We should multiply our public schools a hun- 
dred-fold. We should have our system of education as 
free, as practical and as complete as the experience of 
the age can make. We should have our churches in- 
creased a thousand times, have them conducted by a 
loyal and godly ministry, and have them supported by 
an honest and patriotic membership. We should bring to 
the work of evangelization an aggressive piety that will 
pursue sin and vice of every description into every strong- 
hold and give them uncompromising battle at every step. 
We want the spirit that drove the money changers from 
the temple, that rebuked sin in high places and that 
administered punishment to the wrong doer without favor; 
the spirit that, upon the other hand, forgave the repentant 
sinner and in love invited the weary ones of earth to come 
to Him and find rest. 

And so on this Memorial Pay we must not forget the 
sources from which have come these national blessings. 
We go back in our history and thank God for the Puritan 
spirit and for that deliverance from religious oppression 
which brought to our shores the Mayflower and its heroic 
company who sought upon our soil freedom to worship 
God. We are thankful, too, for the prayer and song which 
hallowed Plymouth, a prayer whose strains still linger 
upon the New England air, and will forever be wafted 



upon the winds back and forth to the utmost boundaries 

of our Union. 

We are thankful that the spirit which came in the 
Mayflower still lives. How quickly its influence estab- 
lished peace after the war, in which so many of our 
comrades fell, was over. Hew it bridged the frightful 
chasm with the olive branch and took back to its for- 
giving bosom the erring ones, and restored peaceful re- 
lations with the discordant States. 

Under the same influence the victorious armies of 
the North settled down to peaceful avocations and the 
hostile camp was transformed into the fraternal spirit 
of the Grand Army of the Republic. As again we thank 
God for His blessings to our country, we drop a tear of 
kindly remembrance over the graves of our dead, believ- 
ing that in the -great multitude of the invisible, their 
sptrits will be with us to warn and guard us from all 
dangers which may threaten us. 

^Comrades beloved, may the God of peace that brought 
from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the 
sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenent, 
make' you perfect in every good work, to do His will, 
working in you that which is well pleasing in His sight, 
through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and 
ever, Amen. 



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